Democracy

From WFAE: Silent Marchers Protest Plan They Call ‘Judicial Gerrymandering’

By Eleanore Wood / January 5, 2018 / Comments Off on From WFAE: Silent Marchers Protest Plan They Call ‘Judicial Gerrymandering’

On a cold Thursday, dozens of people marched with tape over over their mouths up to the Mecklenburg County Courthouse in protest of the Republican-led legislature’s plans to rig our court system in their favor.  They have already made the election of judges political, canceled an election, and drafted racially gerrymandered judicial districts in hopes…

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From Indy Week: What’s Behind the Legislature’s Plan to Overhaul the State Court System?

By Eleanore Wood / December 20, 2017 / Comments Off on From Indy Week: What’s Behind the Legislature’s Plan to Overhaul the State Court System?

Republicans are seeking to rig the court system of North Carolina.  They do not like the decisions the courts have made to stop their attempts to suppress voters and racially gerrymander legislative districts.  Their solution?  Make the courts partisan, cancel a primary election, and try to do away with the public election of judges altogether. They want to…

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From WNCT: Protesters in Greenville rally against proposed changes to N.C. courts

By Eleanore Wood / December 15, 2017 / Comments Off on From WNCT: Protesters in Greenville rally against proposed changes to N.C. courts

It was a cold day but that didn’t stop the residents of Greenville, North Carolina from standing in front of the Pitt County Courthouse to demand that our courts remain fair and independent.  Lawmakers in Raleigh have already made judicial elections political, the first state in 100 years to go back to a party based judicial…

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From The Greensboro News & Record “Silent Voices, Silent Justice” Protest

By Eleanore Wood / December 14, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Greensboro News & Record “Silent Voices, Silent Justice” Protest

Concerned Triad voters joined NC Voters for Clean Elections, Democracy NC, Progress NC, and the NC NAACP outside the Guilford County Courthouse on Wednesday for a rally and protest highlighting the partisan attacks on North Carolina’s court system. The event featured protesters covering their mouths with tape to illustrate the message of “Silent Voices, Silent Justice”…

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From The Greensboro News & Record: Our Opinion: Court meddling demands scrutiny

By Eleanore Wood / December 6, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Greensboro News & Record: Our Opinion: Court meddling demands scrutiny

Our lawmakers in Raleigh have been very unhappy with recent court rulings that strike down their unconstitutional voter suppression tactics.  Their solution is not to create better laws, but rather to take over the court system making judges partisan.  They would like to remove voters from the equation altogether and just appoint judges that they…

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From The Greensboro News & Record: Large turnout shows concern for courts

By Eleanore Wood / December 5, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Greensboro News & Record: Large turnout shows concern for courts

At the Fair Courts Town Hall in Greensboro, 175 residents turned out to learn how state lawmakers are trying to take over and politicize our court system.  A panel of lawmakers and legal experts shared concerns and answered questions to an engaged audience.  It’s true that our legislators are planning a complete overhaul of our…

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From The Greensboro News & Record: ‘Empty chair town hall’ on judicial issues to be held in Greensboro

By Eleanore Wood / November 28, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Greensboro News & Record: ‘Empty chair town hall’ on judicial issues to be held in Greensboro

Concerned voters and members of the legal community will join NC Voters for Clean Elections, Democracy NC, NC NAACP, the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad, and Progress NC in Greensboro on Thursday, November 30 at 7:00pm for an “Empty Chair Town Hall” spotlighting attempts by state lawmakers to rig the judicial system…

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From The News & Observer: An independent judiciary is under siege in Washington and NC

By Eleanore Wood / November 27, 2017 / Comments Off on From The News & Observer: An independent judiciary is under siege in Washington and NC

It is clear that Republicans in North Carolina and Washington are trying to seize control of our independent courts. Here in North Carolina lawmakers in Raleigh have canceled the 2018 judicial primary, want to cut all judge’s terms from 4-8 years down to 2, and propose to do away with election of judges all together…

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From WFAE: Charlotte Talks: NC Courts Become Focus Of Lawmakers’ Tweaks

By Eleanore Wood / November 21, 2017 / Comments Off on From WFAE: Charlotte Talks: NC Courts Become Focus Of Lawmakers’ Tweaks

Republicans in Raleigh do not like losing in court.  Their unconstitutional voter suppression tactics continue to be struck down by judges in North Carolina. The GOP’s solution is to take over the courts and rig them in their favor.  So far Republicans have politicized the election of judges, canceled the 2018 judicial primaries, proposed reducing…

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From The News & Record: Former judges say N.C. judiciary is under siege

By Eleanore Wood / November 17, 2017 / Comments Off on From The News & Record: Former judges say N.C. judiciary is under siege

Judges all over North Carolina are speaking out against the General Assembly’s plan to rig our courts by politicizing judge races, eliminating judicial primaries, reducing judicial terms from 4-8 years down to 2, and possibly eliminating judicial elections altogether.  The judicial branch of our government was established to be independent, impartial and equal.  Republicans in Raleigh…

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